Foresight on Demand

Stories from 2050: radical forward looking imagery of sustainability opportunities and challenges ahead

FOD STORIES 2050

FOD I Completed
Client
DG RTD
Lead organisation
4strat
Year
2020
Start date
2020-12-08
Duration
6 months

Project summary

This project aimed at exploring non-conventional, if not radical, but nevertheless credible futures at a time horizon 2050. This was achieved by a combination of desk research of scientific and grey literature as well as social media scanning, including more unique information resources such as reaching out to activist communities, popular journals and other materials outside the conventional radar on topics relating toward the Green Deal and how to establish a sustainable future. Further, the service developed challenging, emotional and provoking scenarios in the form of stories that contain a “what-if” point of view. Therefore, the narratives include drivers of change, future challenges, possible tensions, consequences of failure and unlikely high-impact “wild card” events.

Resources

View on Futures4Europe (opens in a new tab)

Final report

European Commission: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Guadarrama Baena, G. and Schindler, T. (eds), Stories from 2050 – Radical, inspiring and thought-provoking narratives around challenges and opportunities of our futures, Publications Office, 2021, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/203724

Project focus

Topics

Climate ChangeEnvironmentSustainability

Foresight methods

Horizon ScanningWeak Signal DetectionScenario DevelopmentSpeculative Design

Policy objectives

Green TransitionSustainabilityPreparedness

Outputs

ScenariosVision

Project type

Strategic Foresight